Brek Shea completes Barnsley loan

Barnsley have signed U.S. international Brek Shea from Stoke City on a 28-day emergency loan.

Shea, who joined Stoke from FC Dallas a year ago, has struggled for first-team opportunities at the Britannia Stadium and, as ESPN FC reported on Tuesday, he will now join Championship strugglers Barnsley to gain further experience.

Barnsley announced on their official Twitter account that he would make his first appearance for the club in the New Year's Day fixture away to Birmingham.

The winger has featured often for the U.S. national team since Jurgen Klinsmann’s arrival as manager in July 2011, and he scored his first two international goals in July during the Gold Cup, including the winner against Panama in the Gold Cup final.

But a stubborn foot injury that plagued Shea throughout much of his first half-season in the Premier League, and his subsequent struggle to break through under new Stoke manager Mark Hughes, has had Klinsmann urging Shea to seek a loan move to ensure that he is playing at a peak level entering the summer.

Klinsmann, who is required to choose his 23-man squad for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil by May, has made it clear that only players who are playing regularly for their club sides will be considered for selection for the World Cup.